Medical services of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces

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March adjustment until 1908

The medical services of the Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces were responsible for the medical care of people and animals in the area of:

organization

In the first years of the 20th century until the outbreak of the First World War , the medical system was divided into:

  • Military Medical Committee (Vienna IX. District Währinger Strasse 25)
President: General Staff Doctor Dr. Zdislaus Ritter von Juchnowicz-Hordyński (at the same time commander of the military medical application school )
  • Medical troop command (Vienna I. District Deutschmeisterplatz 4)
    • Medical troop commander: Colonel Konstantin Kyros
  • the medical officer corps
  • the medical service
  • the military drug system
  • the veterinary service with:
    • Military veterinarians
    • Military forges
    • Veterinary College officials

The medical officer corps

The military medical officer corps comprised the graduated doctors of medicine of all disciplines in the presence and reserve level, including the assistant doctors.

The management and exercise of the medical service were under the responsibility of the military medical officer corps, which also functioned as a teacher at military educational establishments. The rank designation was:

Rank Comparatively
General Staff Doctor Major general
First class medical officer Colonel
Chief Medical Officer 2nd class Lieutenant colonel
Medical officer major
1st class regimental doctor Captain
2nd class regimental doctor Captain
Senior physician First lieutenant
Assistant doctor lieutenant

There was also the assistant doctor's deputy. A one-year-old volunteer doctor first had to serve six months in the soldier's position, and a second six months after obtaining the doctorate in medicine as assistant doctor. In terms of rank he was listed as a cadet . When he joined the reserve, he could be appointed resident.

  • Adjustment and equipment of the medical officer corps

The military doctors wore a so-called hooded hat made of black felt with a plume as headgear. The brim was turned up on the left and right. At the back and front they formed downward corners with roses from five rows of shimmering gold bouillons with a velvet black field with the highest embroidered signature FJI . For senior officers (resident physician to regimental physician 1st class), a black silk ribbon 5.3 cm wide served as a brim border. In the case of the staff officers (medical officer to senior medical officer 1st class), the brim edging consisted of a 7.6 cm wide gold border with a zigzag pattern and a black stripe on each edge. Doctors or officers with the rank of general had an 8 cm wide gold braid with no black piping as their hat border.

On the right side of the hat there was a black cockade 8 cm in diameter and, over it, a loop made of a 2.6 cm wide, double-laid border. It formed a point at the bottom and was studded with a yellow glossy button. The plume consisted of drooping black rooster feathers attached to a brass wire loop. On the inside of the brim was a leather sleeve into which the bush was tucked. The doctors could, however, also wear field caps like the infantry officers.

The tunic corresponded in section to that of the military officials . Made of light blue cloth, it had two rows of smooth, yellow buttons. The leveling consisted of black velvet with scarlet passepoils (piping) on ​​the collar and cuffs. The skirt mat was made of scarlet cloth. The blouse had black velvet parolis without passepoils. Blue-gray pantaloons with scarlet passepoils served as legwear. The coat was also blue-gray with scarlet parolis. Armament and personal equipment corresponded to those of the infantry officers.

The assistant doctor's assistant wore uniform and armament like the military doctor, the personal equipment corresponded to that of the team ranks.

The medical service

For the medical aid service in the military medical establishments there was a medical team trained and equipped in this regard. The peace presence consisted of 26 medical departments and the medical troop command. The medical departments were not commanded by doctors but by normal troop officers. The rank corresponded to the infantry, with the lowest rank a medical soldier . The commander of the medical corps was a colonel . The medical departments in Vienna , Przemyśl and Budapest were commanded by lieutenant colonels , the rest by majors .

The medical department commander was responsible for training the medical team as well as managing and supervising the medical field equipment. In the event of mobilization , he was assigned the duties of a train commander.

Officers and cadets were armed with the infantry officer's saber, the men and officers with the pioneer saber.

Adjustment and equipment of the medical service

  • until 1908

The uniform of men and officers corresponded on average to that of the German infantry. The crew's tunic and blouse were dark green in color with madder red leveling and smooth, yellow buttons. The team's tunic did not have bulges. Trousers and coats were gray-blue in color. The first-aid kit bag was made of blackened leather and consisted of a bag with a lid, which could be closed with a strap and a buckle. It had two leather carrying loops to attach it to the waist strap. The medical service soldiers used a knapsack like the pioneers. However, it only had two diagonally attached lid loops and no waist strap straps. The men wore the pioneer saber, the officers the infantry officer's saber.

  • after 1908

For the crews, the dark green skirt in the style of the infantry with madder red passepoils and smooth, yellow buttons. The pantaloons and blouse are pale gray, without piping. The same applied to the officers, who, however, were allowed to use the blue-gray pantaloons with the madder-red passepoils. An exception was the parade adjustment, for which the pike-gray pantaloons were mandatory. The military doctors now wore the same uniform as the medical officers.

The military drug system

The manufacture and administration of the drugs required by the armed forces were the responsibility of the military medical institutions. The relevant specialist staff are grouped together in the military drug industry. Medical soldiers could also be called in.

Drug administrators

The military drug establishments were composed of:

  • Military drug depot with laboratory in Vienna
  • 26 pharmacies assigned to garrison hospitals
  • 11 military pharmacies in larger garrisons without hospitals

The rank of the military medical officers was:

Rank Comparatively
Drug Director Colonel / lieutenant colonel
Drug administrators major
Medicines official 1st class Captain
Medicines official 2nd class Captain
Medicines official 3rd class First lieutenant
Drug accessist lieutenant
Drug Intern Cadet

The drug officers were among those for whom no portepee was required. Their uniform was similar to that of the artillery officers, except that they were dark green skirts with madder-red lapels and white buttons.

The veterinary service

The staff responsible for this was divided into veterinarians and spa forge. The military veterinary service - including the shoeing - was carried out by both veterinarians and spa blacksmiths. Military training blacksmiths who had not completed the veterinary course were mainly used for shoeing. The military veterinarians were among the military officials and had the following rankings: senior veterinarian 1st or 2nd class / captain, veterinarian / first lieutenant, lower vet / lieutenant.

The veterinarians were supplemented by the appointment of military training forges with a veterinary diploma as military sub-veterinarians and from the reservist class. The vets were in service mainly in the cavalry, the corps artillery, the train, the Remontendepots and Remontenassentkommissionen. The course forge had the rank of platoon leader . In terms of discipline, they were directly subordinate to the sergeant in charge or the fireworker, and technically to the military veterinarian of their unit. Military training forges with a veterinary diploma were promoted to watchmen or fireworkers.

  • Adjustment of the veterinary officers

They belonged to the officers without portepee and resembled the artillery officers. They wore black skirts with madder-red lapels and smooth yellow buttons.

  • Adjustment of the military course forge

They wore the uniform of their troops. As a special feature, they had a border made of sheep's wool on the cuffs, similar to how it was used as a corporal identifier on the shako .

The training of military veterinarians and graduate course forge took place at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. The teaching staff consisted of qualified veterinarians: Rector / Colonel, Professor / Colonel, Adjunct or Farriery Teacher / Captain, Assistant / First Lieutenant.

  • Adjustment of the officials of the veterinary college

They belonged to the officers without portepee and resembled the artillery officers. They wore black skirts with cornflower-blue velvet lapels and smooth yellow buttons.

literature

  • Allmayer-Beck , Lessing : The K. (below) K. Army. 1848-1914 . Bertelsmann, Munich et al. 1974, ISBN 3-570-07287-8 .
  • Stefan Rest: The emperor's rock in the First World War . Verlag Militaria, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-9501642-0-0
  • Günter Dirrheimer and Oskar Brüch : The Austro-Hungarian Army in 1895 . Writings from the Army History Museum in Vienna. Leopold Stocker Verlag , Graz 1997, ISBN 3-215-05083-8
  • Adjustment regulation for the Austro-Hungarian Joint Army, the Imperial and Royal Landwehr, the Imperial and Royal Landwehr, the affiliated institutions and the corps of military officials. (Part V) Published with the approval of the Austro-Hungarian War Ministry by Erich Christl's kuk Hofdruckerei, Bozen 1912.
Commons : Uniforms of the Austro-Hungarian Medical Force  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ All information relates to August 1914
  2. ↑ The rank group of NCOs did not exist, they were counted among the men